Various needle pickup devices are known which employ one or more needles which can be actuated to pierce single or multiple layers of fabric or other sheet material, thereby effecting pickup engagement. One form of such device has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,390 which teaches the use of a plurality of needles which are respectively mounted in stationary and movable portions of a pickup head and which can spatially engage a fabric layer to cause the fabric to adhere to the head. Another generally similar mechanism is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,698, each of the foregoing representing developments of the present assignee.
The present invention concerns an improvement of previously developed techniques in that the disclosed device is able, with a great degree of precision, (a) to hold apparel parts before and during the pickup step, (b) to maintain such parts in a predetermined relationship to the pickup device while transporting same to another location, and (c) to deposit such parts precisely in a new location during disengagement of the needles from the pickup device. Also, the needle configuration in the disclosed arrangement is such that the new pickup device will not disfigure fabric by its needle-piercing action or by withdrawal of the needles from the fabric.